I know about the lay orders of the Carmelites,
Franciscans, and Jesuits.

What is the fourth lay order?

Could you tell me a little bit about each? . . .
Just a little?

Do the Jesuits and Franciscans allow women
in their lay order?

Thank you for your time and effort.

Take care and God bless you.

Margaret

{
What is the fourth lay order, can you speak on each, and do some allow women in their order? }

Mary
Ann replied:

Margaret —

There may be some confusion of terms
here. Religious who are not ordained
are also lay so nuns
and sisters, and most monks and brothers
are technically considered part of
the laity.

Of the four great Orders you mentioned,
the fourth are the Dominicans. Each
Order has their own secular arm — what
used to be called Third Order (first
were priests and brothers, second
were nuns and sisters, and third
were laity, popularly so called,
i.e. people in the world).

The third orders or secular arms
of these four Orders are open to
both men and women.

Mary Ann

Mike
replied:

Hi, Margaret —

Thanks for the question.

I have to confess my bias for the
Benedictines up front. They had a
significant effect on my life for
which I am grateful.

Is that [becoming an Oblate]
limited to persons of the Catholic
faith, or it is open to anyone?

How does one become an Oblate
(especially of there are no Oblates
in the area)?

I replied as follows:

RE: On being an Oblate.

Since Oblates have a connection
to a Catholic religious order,
yes, it would be limited to those
of the Catholic Faith. I'll show
my bias here, because I'm a Benedictine
at heart.

If someone wanted to become a
Benedictine Oblate, he or she
would go to their local diocesan
Catholic directory to see if there
is a local Benedictine monastery
in their diocese. They could also
check out nearby dioceses as well.

If there was a Benedictine order
in your area, you would want to
visit the monastery and ultimately
make an appointment with the Superior
of the Order to talk about the
issue, and what would be required
on your part. In my area, it can
consist of a series of required
daily prayers and making periodic
visits to the monastery, but this
will vary from order to order.

The key is the spirituality and
loyalty to the Holy See. I would far rather be a Dominican Oblate
associated with a religious order
that is loyal to the teachings
of the Church, than a Benedictine
Oblate whose community members
are allowed to dissent from the
Magisterium of the Church.

On Catholic religious orders that
are allowed to dissent from the Magisterium.

I just don't get it?

What have they sacrificed their
life for: a phony church that
is loyal to their moral relativistic — personal
desires?

Where's Jesus in the picture?

Where's the obedience to His
Will through the one Church He
established on St. Peter?

Here are some informational web pages
from New Advent. It will tell you
a little bit about each:

I just found your web site today and like the site. I consider myself an active
web surfer of Catholic web sites.
The concept is wonderful and you
all deserve much praise.

On this page the answer says that
Benedictine oblates must be Catholic.
When my wife and I, both non-Catholics,
first became interested in becoming
Benedictine oblates, I read about
how through history there have been
non-Catholic Benedictine oblates.
At the monastery where my wife and I became oblates, being a Catholic is not a requirement and we became
oblates while being non-Catholic.

I wanted to let you know of my experience:

first because of what has been the
practice in the past as I learned
it, and

second and more importantly,
because the Benedictine practice
of admitting non-Catholic oblates
is a huge and effective method of
evangelical outreach to the wider
Christian community.

If I do not understand or have made
an error, I certainly am ready to
be corrected, and I will dig out
the book references if you would
like — but your own inquires
using your good contacts should led
you to the same conclusion I came
to when I was wondering if a monastery
would accept an evangelical Protestant
as a Benedictine oblate.

Best of success to your excellent
web site which is much needed and
which I will use frequently in my
Catholic life.

Thanks again!

Blessings to you,

John

Francis,
a former oblate and friend of Mike's replied:

Hi, Mike!

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.
Unfortunately, I am unable to give
you a definitive answer.

It was always my understanding that
an Oblate must be Catholic. This
makes sense if an individual wants
to fully participate in the spiritual
life of a community.

Obviously, it's difficult to do this
if the Oblate is not Catholic. It
is for this reason that we do not
allow non-Catholics to receive Holy
Communion.

However, if there are Benedictine
communities who are doing this, I
would presume they are doing it in
accordance with the Church's blessing.

Francis

Please
report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey